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Aarika Ferko

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Finalist

General information

Hobbies & Interests

  • Cooking
  • Biking And Cycling
  • Sustainability
  • Advocacy And Activism
  • Mental Health
  • Meditation and Mindfulness
  • Medicine

Reading

  • poetry
  • medical journals
  • autobiographies

I read books daily.

Bio

Welcome, and thank you for taking the time to visit my page! I am a third year medical student who is passionate about patient advocacy and equity within healthcare. My goals throughout my medical journey are to learn how to best serve my future patients, both inside and outside of the hospital, while continuing to give back to the community. I stay motived by participating in advocacy work and co-authorship's aiming to advance health care through the American Medical Association. More specifically, I have worked on a resolution asking to change policy within medical education to enforce better representation of various skin tones in lectures on dermatological pathologies. This resolution was accepted into AMA policy in 2021! Outside of schooling, my most recent endeavor includes volunteering with Future Healers, an organization that's mission is to build better bridges between the healthcare community and Louisville youth most impacted by gun violence. Our goal is to introduce more youth to the field of medicine while helping them navigate through the emotional trauma stemming from the increasing violence plaguing their communities. Being recognized and awarded a scholarship will not only help fund my medical education, but will also allow me to show future residency programs that I continued to work hard in both service work and advocacy throughout medical school, hopefully encouraging their programs to engage in similar work. Together, this will allow me to advance one step closer to reaching my goals in improving the field of health care.

Education

University of Louisville

Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)

2019 – 2023

Majors:
  • Medicine

Clemson University

Bachelor's degree program

2015 – 2019

Majors:
  • Biology/Biological Sciences, General
Minors:
  • Chemistry, General

Miscellaneous

Medical school interest:
Yes

Career

  • Customer Service Assistance

    Consumer Services · Chapel Hill Golf Course

    Jan 2017 – Jan 2019

Miscellaneous

Dream career field:
Medical Practice
Dream career goals:
Medical Attending
Has nursing license:
No

Future Interests

  • Advocacy
  • Politics
  • Volunteering
  • Philanthropy
Bold Growth Mindset Scholarship
I keep a growth mindset by consistently reminding myself that perfection is not the goal. Instead, learning something new each day and using it to improve is the goal. This applies to all aspects of life including my schooling, my relationships, and my hobbies. By maintaining this mindset, I am able to be open-minded and be an active listener. In both success and failure, it encourages me to be better each day. I must not settle on my successes of the past, but I will also not let past failures keep me down. I believe that this is very important as a student training in health care. I have so much to learn to become the physician that I aspire to be one day. To do so, I must continue to grow my knowledge base, my communication skills, my empathy for others and much more. If one does not keep a growth mindset, it may be easy to get stuck in the rut of day-to-day activities and become stagnant. I do not want to remain stagnant in any aspects of my life and therefore must aspire for growth each and every day.
Elevate Mental Health Awareness Scholarship
Mental health has not only affected the lives of patients that I see in training, but also myself and my colleagues who are expected to be at our best to take care of others. I often see health care professionals and trainees putting all that they have into their job of improving the lives of others while their mental wellbeing is placed on the backburner, myself included. When mental health dwindles, so does the ability to provide the highest level of care for patients. This extends outside of providing care within medicine. Mental health affects our abilities to be a good friend, an open listener, a loving sibling, an attentive parent, and much more. It is vital to our daily lives. These experiences have made me realize that to be able to pour out of your cup and give to others, you must first take the time to fill up your cup. Going forward, I will no longer feel guilty about taking time to ensure my mental health is in order. Seeing deleterious mental health negatively impact the lives of patients, fellow students, and health care workers, I am inspired to delve deeper into the mental health status of my future patients as I progress towards my career in health care. Often neglected in medicine, mental health is part of whole-body wellbeing and is something that affects each one of us. I want my patients to be able to live their lives to the best of their abilities while enjoying it along the way. I am inspired to ask questions addressing mental health regularly at visits in hopes of highlighting the importance of mental health and hopefully improving lives along the way.
Bold Self-Care Scholarship
I think it goes without saying that these past 2 years have been stressful for everyone, no matter what scholastic or occupational endeavors you partake in. As a third-year medical student learning in medical clinics, it has been a crazy year full of ups and downs. From seeing patients that I have cared for pass away to advocating for equity in health care, it all feels exhausting at times. I am a firm believer that you can not pour out of your cup to give to others unless you first take the time to fill your cup. To take care of my mental health, I am adamant about making myself get outside for at least 20 minutes each day, no matter what the weather. It may seem simple, but getting fresh air, and hopefully, some sunlight makes a world of difference in my day by providing me time for reflection and anchors me in stillness no matter how chaotic my surroundings may be. I do not believe that self-care needs to be a luxurious time-consuming routine that we participate in each day. Dedicating 20 minutes to a simple task is something that I can commit to incorporating in my daily routine and rely on for time to myself. In these moments I may sit in silence, walk while listening to an audiobook, or call a friend or family member. I look forward to these 20 minutes every day and believe that everyone should dedicate at least a small amount of time, no matter how busy they are each day, for nothing other than themselves. We must remember to fill our cups, and we deserve it!
Bold Loving Others Scholarship
I believe that you can show your love for others best through actions. Growing up during a time where technology and cell phones are in the forefront of our daily lives, I find that picking up a pen and paper and writing someone a letter feels more meaningful than initiating a phone call. My grandfather and I have been close since I was little. I had to move 10 hours away from home to attend school which was hard on the both of us. One way we remind each other of how much we love one another is by writing a letter to each other once every month. I take this time to sit down and reflect on my last month and update him on all of my life changes. I use this as an opportunity to address any of his questions or concerns that were mentioned in his last letter. To make him feel that he is involved in my life here at school, I also send him local newspaper clippings. Another action I am passionate about is cooking for my friends and family. Everyone has experienced stressful situations during the covid-19 pandemic. While I cannot cure this stress, I try to help alleviate it by providing loved ones with home cooked meals and freshly baked treats to comfort them. I do not think it takes a grand gesture to show people that they are cared about. I prefer to partake in small but thoughtful actions to make people feel loved.
Bold Equality Scholarship
First and foremost, I am a medical student who is passionate about patient advocacy and equity within healthcare. I am on a journey to learn how to best serve my future patients, both inside and outside of the hospital while continuing to give back to the community. I have participated in advocacy work through writing policy resolutions that aim to advance equity within health care through the American Medical Association. More specifically, I have worked on a resolution asking to change policy within medical education to enforce better representation of various skin tones in lectures on dermatological pathologies. To put it more simply, this means that our resolution prompts medical schools to illustrate rashes and cancers on all skin tones, not just white skin, so that they may be better recognized and treated by health care professionals. This resolution was accepted into AMA policy in 2021! I also volunteer with Future Healers, an organization that's mission is to build better bridges between the healthcare community and Louisville's innercity youth most impacted by gun violence. Our goal is to introduce more youth to the field of medicine while helping them navigate through the emotional trauma stemming from the increasing violence plaguing their communities. We focus on service, outreach and education to uplift and empower our youth to aspire for a better future for themselves and the communities in which they live. Within this organization, I specifically plan and coordinate the interactive lectures given to the children with local physicians as well as attend many of the events that we hold for our program participants.
Bold Relaxation Scholarship
I think it goes without saying that these past 2 years have been stressful for everyone, no matter what scholastic or occupational endeavors you partake in. As a third-year medical student learning in medical clinics, it has been a crazy year full of ups and downs. From seeing patients that I have cared for pass away to advocating for equity in health care, it all feels exhausting at times. I am a firm believer that you can not pour out of your cup to give to others unless you first take the time to fill your cup. To take care of my mental health, I am adamant about making myself get outside for at least 20 minutes each day, no matter what the weather. It may seem simple, but getting fresh air, and hopefully, some sunlight makes a world of difference in my day by providing me time for reflection and anchors me in stillness no matter how chaotic my surroundings may be. I do not believe that self-care needs to be a luxurious time-consuming routine that we participate in each day. Dedicating 20 minutes to a simple task is something that I can commit to incorporating in my daily routine and rely on for time to myself. In these moments I may sit in silence, walk while listening to an audiobook, or call a friend or family member. I look forward to these 20 minutes every day and believe that everyone should dedicate at least a small amount of time, no matter how busy they are each day, for nothing other than themselves. We must remember to fill our cups, and we deserve it!
Bold Confidence Matters Scholarship
As a third-year medical student working in medical clinics, it is common to struggle with "imposter syndrome", or feeling like you are not equipped to see and care for patients. Daily we are surrounded by medical residents, fellows, and attendings who have a vast array of medical knowledge and experience and challenge us with tough questions. Not only is this intimidating, but it often makes students wonder, "Am I even smart enough for this profession?", forgetting that those physicians were once in our shoes. To me, confidence is not having the belief that I am one of the smartest in the room, but instead believing in myself and trusting that I am capable of learning and improving each day. I believe that you can learn something from everyone, and this includes our patients! Walking with the confidence that I am capable of learning, as opposed to being intimidated by what I do not know, allows me to listen with open ears and be receptive to new information. I try to work on this mindset each day entering the clinic as this allows me to absorb more of the information that is presented to me. Of course, there are moments when I get down on myself for not answering questions from faculty correctly, but I must remind myself that I am still learning and that there is nothing wrong with that! This mindset around confidence encourages me to be an active learner and participate in question answering, even with the chance of being wrong in front of peers, and not to shy away from the learning experience.
Bold Community Activist Scholarship
Louisville is a community that unfortunately experiences high rates of gun violence despite numerous initiatives to lower inner-city crimes. Future Healers is an outreach program I volunteer with that targets local children impacted by gun violence and aims to build better bridges between them and our healthcare community. The goal of this program is to introduce children to various fields of medicine while also aiding in the necessary navigation through emotional trauma that stems from the increasing violence impacting the communities in which they live. This program aims to uplift and empower Louisville youth through outreach, service, and education to dream and aspire to build a better future for themselves and their communities. I have the pleasure of holding a position on the Marketing Committee which allows me to reach out to various physicians and encourage their participation in our educational lectures given to the children. This position also allows me to write scripts for our lectures, run our Twitter account, and help run our in person events. The last event I attended we were able to provide each elementary and middle school participant with scrubs and stethoscopes. So far we have completed our nutrition lecture where students learned how to bandage wounds on bananas and our skeletal anatomy lecture where students were able to assemble skeletons just in time to take home for Halloween. We look forward to finishing out the semester with our lecture on the respiratory system where the kids will get to have some fun with balloons. The greatest success of this program so far came from our social media presence. A donor who saw that one of our students suffered from blindness due to gun violence was able to provide him with prosthetic eyes! I love that our events help unite our local community.
Nikhil Desai Reflect and Learn COVID-19 Scholarship
There is not a single citizen in the United States who does not currently feel the impact of the novel corona virus, covid-19. Like many others, I have experienced the fear that comes along with having at-risk family members, the isolation that stems from living alone during a global pandemic, and the frustration of not being able to go about life as desired, even if that just means a quick stop at your favorite local coffee shop. As a medical student, Covid-19 has drastically affected my education. Through the transition to online classes, I have not been able to have contact with patients since March of 2020 in a curriculum that is heavily based on clinical patient care. Through this time, I realized that I started to lose my passion for medicine. I was not able to go into the hospital every day and see the patients that inspire me to dedicate so much time to studying medical sciences. It became a monotonous burden to open my laptop in the morning, sit at my desk for about ten hours each day, and repeat six days a week. It was around the winter months that I realized I needed to take the time for a mental break and reflect on why I started upon this journey in the first place. It was then that I found myself reading blogs written by nurses and physicians describing their time on the front lines of the pandemic. I realized that while I would have liked to have played a bigger role in the treatment of covid-19 patients, my role in the pandemic was to continue to learn so that one day I can provide relief to our over-worked healthcare workers. This realization was the spark I needed to put my nose to the grindstone and continue to learn as much as I can before my clinical years. If the pandemic has taught me anything, it is that human connection is extremely important and should not be taken for granted. Fostering relationships with those around us is a key aspect to life and one we must not forget about when the pandemic resides.
Amplify Continuous Learning Grant
As a medical student, I am continuously working on educating myself in medical practices as well as how to better care for patients of all backgrounds. A way I ensure the latter is by participation in the American Medical Association. Through my membership in the AMA, as well as my position on The University of Louisville School of Medicine's AMA chapter executive committee, I dedicate time to advocating for access to healthcare and equity within medicine. The current authorship I am working advocates for expanding diversity of skin tone representation within dermatological education in medical institutions. This resolution has been adopted at a region-wide level, with the hopes of nation wide adoption into AMA policy. I would use this grant money to help subsidize my medical education to allow me to continue to focus on improving the lives of marginalized patients. Learning medical curriculum is only one aspect of becoming a well rounded doctor. I aspire to take this a step further by playing an active role in advancing policy within healthcare.
Aarika Ferko Student Profile | Bold.org